The third transport from Denmark to Theresienstadt left on October 12, 1943. This transport leaving the assembly camp in Horserød, consisted of Jews who had managed to evade capture during the initial action against the Danish Jews (the night between October 1 and 2, 1943). After the initial escape from their homes, many Jews had to find hiding places. Many Jews travelled to towns and villages in the Northern part of Zealand hoping to find fishermen and secure passage to Sweden. One of main places Jews escaped from was the small fishing village of Gilleleje, which in the 1940 census had a population of 1.682 people.[1]
According to a report by the Danish police around 120 Jews were caught by the Germans in various places trying to escape on the night between October 6 and 7.[2] The biggest group caught consisted of around 65 Jews who had been hiding in the attic of the local church in Gilleleje.[3] Their hiding place was discovered by the Danish-speaking German Gestapo officer Hans Juhl (nicknamed Gestapo-Juhl) who headed the border patrol office in Helsingør.[4] He was zealous in his pursuit of the Danish Jews and can be credited with many of the arrests in Northern Zealand.[5] Besides the Jews arrested in the church attic around 20 Jews were also arrested at the local parish hall in Gilleleje, 23 were arrested at a chemical plant in Kastrup, while 19 Jews were arrested by Juhl while attempting to flee onboard a boat leaving Gilleleje Harbor.[6] Some of the captured Jews were released if they were not considered fully Jewish or if they were married to non-Jews. For instance, in the same police report it is stated on October 9 that 60 people had already been released because they didn’t meet the racial criteria to be considered Jewish and that a similar number of people were expected to also be released.[7]
After being rounded up the Jews were taken to Horserød, an internment some 8 km west of Helsingør in Northern Zeeland. On the evening of October 12, they were told to pack their bags. From Horserød the deportees were taken by busses to the train station in Helsingør. Once the deportees arrived at the station, they had to wait several hours before boarding the train. A report written by a Danish railway worker, who witnessed the train’s departure, describes how the first group of deportees arrived at the station at 10PM on October 12 and were placed in the station’s waiting room.[8] They waited there until around 02:20 A.M. when they were herded on to the train, which consisted of regular passenger coaches. In his report he describes how the Germans shouted at the Jews when they were herded on to the train: “Even those travelers, who due to their age did not move very quickly, were – especially by a certain policeman – shouted at “vorwärts” [forward], ”eilen” [hurry] and the likes.”[9]
The train belonged to the Danish State Railways and was conducted by Danish railway personal under armed German guard, which consisted of 60 German soldiers, 10 pr. train coach to guard the deportees.[10] Juhl, who had personally arrested of many of the deportees, arrived at the station, while the train was being prepared and made an agreement with the German police present to use six of the train’s coaches for the Jews, with around 40 deportees in each car.[11]...